"The first lap was good but not the best one of my career. I overtook some riders but then I saw that Valentino was pushing really hard from the beginning then I pushed too, it was like qualifying practice, but I overheated my tyres.

"When I just overtook Johann [Zarco] I just started to struggle a lot, looks like Valentino was really close but I started to struggle, I started to feel uncomfortable. I lost the front in last turn, I saved with [my] elbow.

"Then I say, 'okay, cool down, try to be smart, try to understand which is the situation with the tyres'. I did it, and then step by step I started to feel better, I started to feel like still I was catching tenth by tenth Valentino and that was another extra motivation."

Much to the disappoint of the fans in Sepang, a mouth-watering battle with Rossi at the front failed to materialise and Marquez was also disappointed.

"The plan was to arrive [on Rossi's wheel] and try to fight," he added. "We were both riding on the limit, it was a really fast pace. Our level was very equal.

"On that corner [Turn 1] he was a little bit wide, but when you are fighting like this you don't want to lose any tenths and then he tried to come back quick but he lost the front."